What really makes a Dark Lord? Is it some set of rules you can clearly and without question define what makes one Light or Dark?
The Order of the Phoenix was preparing to meet in Grimmould Place when Harry Potter peeked in the door. He noticed that the Headmaster had not arrived yet nor had Professor Snape. Good, that suited his plans just fine. He stepped into view and looked at the two dozen or so people sitting and standing in the large room.
"Harry, you should be upstairs with the other children," Molly Weasley said to him once she spotted the black haired boy.
"I will," Harry replied. "I was just working on an extra credit project I was hoping to turn in for DADA this coming term and I had a few questions."
"What kind of questions? What subject?" Remus Lupin asked interest in the boy's project as he had been a DADA instructor for Harry in the past.
"It's about Dark Lords and their minions. Common traits that most have or are supposed to have. Something that can let people know if they are being recruited by one," Harry said almost dismissively.
"Let's hear it then, boy," Moody growled out.
Harry nodded to the old Auror and began.
"Dark Lords in general are looking for power in the world. They will use any means necessary to obtain it, both direct and subtle. Most have a small following of 'true believers' with a larger circle of hangers on that are in it for their own gain, but still loyal to the Dark Lord."
"A good center point of your opening, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall.
"Most Dark Lords are charismatic, tend to be good speakers and able to smile while lying through their teeth," Harry added in with a slight smile.
"Not always, Harry. He-who-must-not-be-named is quite disgusting to look at," Hestia Jones added in.
Harry looked at the Auror. "But not at first. He was quite dashing and handsome as a young man. Before he took the name of Lord Voldemort he was simply Tom Marvolo Riddle, a half blood orphan. His parents were a muggle and a witch."
Most of the Order looked shocked at Harry's casual statement.
"Are you certain of that information Mr. Potter," Moody growled at the teen.
"Quite certain. His shade told me of it down in the Chamber of Secrets when I saved Ginny from him and the basilisk. Rearrange the letters in his name 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' and you get 'I am Lord Voldemort'. The shade showed it to me myself in fire letters. I told the Headmaster all about it afterwards."
Several Order members frowned at this. They had not been told this vital piece of information.
"Dark Lords tend to create what muggles refer to as a 'cult of personality' about themselves. They set themselves up to be the beacon of a brighter tomorrow or the champion of the rights of the oppressed or some other such noble cause to a portion of the population they want to draw support from. That is what Grindlewald and Hitler had done back during the Second World War.
"People who follow this idea tend to be the most loyal and will actually feel bad if they fail to keep up to the standards set by the leader. However, the leader is not reciprocal on this loyalty. They will allow their followers to be killed or imprisoned if it furthers the goals the Dark Lord has. No one is vital except for they themselves. If a sacrifice must be made, it will always be the minion that suffers and never the Dark Lord."
This brought out a few nods and a few troubled looks.
"Dark Lords will hoard information as they grow in power. They will only tell their followers what they need to know in order to accomplish the specific task ahead of them. This is both as a means of control and of preventing the group from being destroyed if found out. It also sets the leader up as the source of all information and the followers must look to him for guidance instead of simply knowing for themselves. Knowledge is power and whoever holds the needed knowledge holds all the power."
A few more nods and a few more troubled looks.
"The followers or minions of a Dark Lord tend to fall into specific groups or personality types. The True Believers are the most loyal of all. To them, the leader can do no wrong. Every word from his or her mouth is gospel and to be obeyed without question. These are the ones that will die for him most easily but also the last ones to lose faith in the person.
"Next, are what I call the Faithful. They are the ones that follow the stated purpose of the Dark Lord. Like with Riddle and his 'Pureblood Agenda'. They are not as fanatical but they follow because they believe in what the person is saying as much as the person saying it. They want their beliefs to be the one the world is following.
The next group is what I refer to as the Opportunists. They might or might not believe in the Dark Lord's ideals but they go along and pay lip service to the cause in order to benefit from the rise to power. As long as the Opportunist gains from being a follower, they will remain loyal and obedient to the Dark Lord but will be the first to hold back when things go badly and abandon the Dark Lord if things are looking quite bad to them and ultimately their continued benefit.
The final group is the plain Thugs. They exist anywhere. They follow along simply to revel in the mayhem. They are foot soldiers and cannon fodder for the Dark Lord.
"Interesting points so far Mr. Potter," McGonagall said in a low thoughtful voice.
"Thank you Professor. I had one more section I was working on before I have any questions. After the Dark Lord attains power, how they hold onto it. There have not been many Dark Lords who consolidated power in the books I had available so I borrow from muggle history for this.
"Once a Dark Lord gains power, there are two paths they can follow to holding it. Brutal or Benevolent. Brutal is fairly self explanatory. They go on a reign of terror, striking down and quashing any resistance to their rule. They hunt down undesirables and eliminate them are a group. Normally it is the group that the Dark Lord used as a target in their rise to power. Once the target group is destroyed, the Dark Lord finds a newer target to focus their minions on. This type is eventually deposed through violence and counter revolution.
The Benevolent path is much more sinister. They gain power over time but then they make changes to the society itself along the way. They become the model that people with to emulate. They offer education but only to a certain point. The ones that show promise of being a future threat are weeded out and quietly pushed to attain less than their potential. Those that do not are forced out of society, brought under a more forceful type of control or simply have an accident and disappear. Educational standards are lowered and people grow more ignorant. No one is allowed to suffer but no one is allowed to soar either.
They are given free speech but the Dark Lord controls the press and what they read. They are given free elections but the Dark Lord controls the candidates and the political agenda. They are given the right to do things for themselves but are encouraged to let the leader take care of them. The people can be anything they wish to be but are subtly lulled into being sheep. Innovation is stifled. Change is looked on as a bad thing. New ideas are seen dangerous and free thought is pure treason. People in the end never notice all of this because the Dark Lord in already in charge of the media, the government and the schools. They support him because they have been trained to do so since birth and never question things. In the end, it takes a second Dark Lord to generate enough change to get society to see what is happening.
"When asked why they did what they did the benevolent Dark Lords tend to fall back on one simple premise, It was all for the Greater Good."
The silence in the room lasted until Harry spoke again after a full minute.
"But then, that is exactly what Grindlewald said as well, wasn't it?"
Harry turned and left the room.
"Oh my," McGonagall whispered.
"Indeed," said Remus.
Nymphadora Tonks just looked at the teachers and said "What?"
Her fellow Aurors on the Order of the Phoenix hung their heads. Moody growled in his throat. The oldest members of the Order, those in their 70's and up looked the most troubled.
The silence was broken by the sound of the floo and a pair of footsteps drawing close.
"Ah, everyone is here," Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin, First Class, Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, Chief Wizard of the Wizengamot, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Leader of the Order of the Phoenix said in a pleasant tone.
The assembled members looked at him quietly and his sparkling eyes over half moon glasses as Severus Snape stalking in behind him and glared at everyone.
"Lemon drop anyone?" he asked in a mild tone.
This idea never got past this point. as far as being written goes. I had weveral ideas to follow up on but never did.
Every revolutionary or progressive person in magical society could potential be labelled as a 'Dark Lord'. As one Jedi is known for saying, 'from a certain point of view'
Dumbles does not need to be Minister. He already controls the legislature, the courts, the education system, contact with the rest of the world and is 'beloved by all'. Most of the problems in British Wizarding society can be traced back to him and his 'Greater good' in one way or another.
Siome points on which OotP members fall into what category
True Believer: Hagrid, Molly, Tonks
Faithful: Most of the rest, most of the Aurors fight against Riddle but not always for Dummbles
Opportunists: Dung da thief. Snape
Thugs: Moody fits best here but just slightly more than being a part of Faithful due ot his paranoia
Author's note: People looking for my NAruto stories to update. I am getting a few words in a day. My current job is gone at the end of June and I am looking for a new one. that kind of halts much attempts at writing as bills need to be paid and this does not pay them. The mind rarely relaxes enough to be creative.